While slap fighting may come across as a ludicrous sport to others, South African star and Power Slap League super heavyweight fighter Danie “The Pitbull” van Heerden says the paycheques he receives are no joke at all.
“I’ve made more money in the slap-fighting than I’ve ever made in the other sports that I’ve participated in,” Van Heerden told Hollywoodbets Sports Blog in an exclusive interview.
You probably have seen two grown men standing over a table, giving each other hot klaps and most likely you were left with many unanswered questions.
What is this? Why are they doing it? Is it even real? Do we have it in SA? Is it worth it?
Well, in SA, the sport is yet to be formalised through forming a federation but is growing in popularity at such a rapid rate that it has produced one of the world’s top slap-fighters in Van Heerden.
Numerous slap-fighting competitions have been staged over the past two years in SA.
According to Van Heerden, who has managed to slap people on his way to the Power Slap, the holy grail of the sport, it’s real as you can imagine and all worth it.
One thing he is not going to hide from you though is that the sport is not for the faint-hearted and you need to have some courage to step on that stage.
The Power Slap is the pinnacle of the sport and was founded by Dana White, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president, in 2022.
Danie Van Heerden's IRON CHIN is going to be tested at #PowerSlap6 💪
— Power Slap (@powerslapleague) February 2, 2024
[ Feb. 9th | Early Prelims 7:30pm ET/Main 9pm ET | LIVE and FREE on @rumblevideo ] pic.twitter.com/mJxZ0uwlpw
While the Pretoria resident and businessman, Van Heerden, doesn’t like to talk money in sports, he admits participants are rewarded handsomely in the ever-growing sport.
“(In Power Slap) you get R90 000 per fight and there are winning bonuses and incentives for knockouts and other things like that,” said Van Heerden, who has been a professional boxer, and fought in the mixed martial arts and Muay Thai.
“There’s a window for athletes in the sport to make more money through sponsorships, endorsements and appearances.
“The match is three rounds long with a maximum of three slaps, which must be within the stipulated rules, per participant involved in the fight.”
Van Heerden, who started dishing out and taking klaps in the Power Slap a few months ago, is ranked fourth in the super heavyweight division in the world.
Before being recently disqualified for an illegal slap during a Power Slap match against fellow star and best man at his recent wedding, Makini Manu, the South African had been undefeated in all his four other matches.
He had delivered two knockouts and won a further two matches via points scoring from judges.
“I’ve won all the competitions here in South Africa and I got signed with Power Slap in October 2023 and from there we’ve competed in a few competitions and now I’m number four in the world. What a way to represent South Africa?” Van Heerden said of his rise on the international stage.
“I think I was able to get to the Power Slap mainly because of my pedigree as a sports person since slap-fighting in SA is not professional yet. I was number five in boxing on the SA rankings, and I was a world champion in mixed martial arts, I’m undefeated in Muay Thai.
“I’ve got seven professional licences in different sports, and I’ve beaten all the guys in South Africa,” he said.
“It felt surreal (to sign for Power Slap), I mean me as a South African, being a father and a husband, coming from where we are and getting chosen to compete on an international platform.
“I mean I’m getting paid by Dana White himself now, what’s not better?”
Pitbull’s biggest wish for the sport in SA is to see a federation being launched so that more people, especially youngsters can join.
“In South Africa, the sport is not that big because we don’t have a constitution yet,” Van Heerden said.
“So, doing it in South Africa is not structured legally but we are busy with that and hopefully, we can get it structured by getting a constitution here in South Africa for the upcoming youngsters to compete with us.
“There are currently some slap-fight promotions in South Africa, other than that we’ve got Dominant Slap League and a few others but once we get that constitution out of the way we can get South Africa on the map.”
Having participated in other combat sports, the Pitbull feels that slap-fighting is less demanding and time-consuming in terms of preparation and training from its athletes.
“It’s either you can take a slap or you can’t take a slap,” he said.
“Well, I think anyone out there can give a slap but there’s no way you can teach yourself to take a slap.
“Other than that, you can train your jaw, your neck. So, there’s not a lot of training but you still have to work on some techniques. At the end of the day, you need the balls for this sport,” Van Heerden said.
“For me, boxing is the hardest sport because you need to be fit and focused but with slap fighting, you don’t have to be fit. You can come straight from the couch and compete on stage to make something out of your life.
“The reason why I slap-fight now is because it allows me to be a dad by spending time with my kids and also time with my wife. You don’t have to train like a normal martial arts artist.”
According to the rules, slaps need to be below the eye but above the chin, without leading with the palm such that all hand-to-face contact takes place at the same time.
Van Heerden says the preferable thing is to win the coin toss and be the first to deliver the slap.
